Self-Destruction
Blake
I'm going to try to murder a homicidal maniac soon. She's crazier than I am and will probably kill me. I thought you should know and I hope this gets you some closure.
Sorry about everything,
Adam
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Blake couldn't get that damn note out of her head. She hadn't been expecting to get a letter during her time at Beacon, especially not from Adam Taurus of all people. And yet, she had, so now she had to deal with it.
The note had been short, taciturn even, exactly how Adam could get in one of his moods. It matched his handwriting as well. And yet, Blake couldn't believe it had actually come from him. Adam admitting he was in anyway wrong was a rarity but actually calling himself crazy? And saying he was
sorry? Impossible. It would never happen, no matter how much she may have wanted it.
Blake tried to dismiss it, tried to tell herself it was a fake or some sort of bizarre trick to get her to come back to the White Fang. But, unfortunately, there was some part of that still looked up to Adam, admired his strength and his conviction. Maybe even still loved him, to her shame. And that part desperately wanted the note to be real. She wanted to believe that maybe, just maybe, Adam had realized something was wrong with him, just like Blake had.
But what if it was real? What about this 'homicidal maniac' he planned on killing? Was she truly as dangerous as he claimed or was she innocent, with Adam having deluded himself into seeing a threat that wasn't there. Did she even really exist?
Blake didn't know what to do. Should she report it? Show the note to the authorities? But then wouldn't they ask why the leader of a terrorist group wrote her a letter about his plans for murder? Instead of giving her closure, the note just stressed her out more, which wasn't something she needed right now.
"You okay, Blake?" Yang's voice and hand on her shoulder cut through Blake's thoughts, bringing her back into the moment. "Emerald was just here and you didn't even say hi."
Blake shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thoughts haunting her. "Really? I'll have to say sorry later. I just… have a lot on my mind."
Blake meant what she said. Emerald Sustrai may have only arrived a short while ago for the Vytal festival but she'd slipped into their friend group pretty quickly. She was bright, supportive and friendly and apparently the only person on her team with actual social skills. Cinder was okay but aloof, Mercury was a bit of a dick and their fourth member was so shy, she only left their room on the rarest of occasions. Blake wasn't even sure if anyone knew her name. But Emerald was a good friend and deserved better than to be ignored.
"Hmph, I thought I noticed you were a bit distracted during our match." Weiss huffed slightly and looked at Blake expectantly. "Well? What is it? We need to help you settle your mind before the next round in the tournament, so you aren't distracted during it."
"Oooor missing out on all this festival awesomeness!" Ruby spun around, waving her hands at all the booths and attractions set up for the Vytal Tournament. "I even heard from Nora that the noodle stand has a special going on. They just throw an entire tuna fish on your bowl of noodles. Just blam! Huge fish!"
Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm sure they prepare the fish first."
Blake tried to ignore how her mouth watered at the thought of that much tuna, all for her… Instead, she tried to change the subject. "I thought we decided you and Yang were our representatives for the semi-finals. I'm not going to be fighting, so does it matter if I'm a little off today?"
"We still need you cheering us on! Even if only two of us are in the arena, the fight's still gonna be a team effort," Yang said, pulling Blake into a right side-hug. Once they were closer, she whispered in Blake's ear. "Hey, this isn't about that letter you got this morning, right?"
Blake sighed. For all her bombastic personality, Yang could be frightfully insightful when she wanted to be. But really, she should have expected it. Her team, despite her best efforts, wouldn't allow her to take on her problems by herself. Honestly, she really should have shared it with her team the moment she got it. They would support her, help her figure out what to do. They wouldn't judge her. But Blake supposed old habits die hard.
Taking a deep breath, Blake prepared herself to share with her team the one aspect of her past she never wanted to talk about: Adam. "Alright, fine. What's bothering me is-"
And that was as far as she got before she was cut off by a nearby scream of absolute terror. Emerald's scream.
Team RWBY
moved, pushing through the crowd as they headed for their friend. They didn't need a moment to check with each other, they just leapt into action as one.
When they arrived a second later, they found a horrific scene. Cinder had been impaled from behind, a sword brutally pushed up through her body, piercing her heart. The only thing holding her upright anymore was the bloody sword itself, held by the looming figure behind her.
"That went smoother than I expected. Thanks for making this so easy." The figure spoke in a low, baritone growl.
"Oh no…" Blake whispered, her eyes widening in horror. Because she knew that voice. She knew that red blade sticking gruesomely out of Cinder's chest. But he couldn't be here. She prayed and begged any gods that were listening, he couldn't be here.
Unfortunately, Blake's prayers went unanswered as the figure behind Cinder wrenched the blade free in another burst of blood, revealing himself to the crowd. Of course, it was Adam. But not as Blake had ever seen him before.
Gone was the clean, crisp black and red suit. Gone was all pretense of being something noble or in control. Now he wore a long, black, hooded overcoat that was in tatters, the bottom and the sleeves torn up. Underneath that he only wore a pair of black jeans, also with tears and holes in them, while forgoing a shirt entirely. Instead, the only thing on his chest were the white bandages wrapped around his lower torso, which were slowly turning red from all of Cinder's blood that had splattered on him.
But strangest of all, the mask was gone. Ever since Blake had met him, Adam wore his mask. Before the rest of the White Fang picked them up, Adam wore the mask. When he was alone, in private, with no chance of being seen, Adam wore the mask. Even when they had been…
together, Adam wore the mask. But now he didn't and Blake could see why he'd never been without it before. Everyone could. No one could ever hope to miss the letters SDC burned into his face and across his left eye.
Nobody moved as Adam slashed at the air, the blood on his sword flying off. The crowd was mostly civilians, with a few trainee huntresses and huntsmen like team RWBY. No one who had witnessed such a brutal murder before or expected one on such a fine, festive day. They could only stare in horror, Blake included.
The only person who did more than stare was Emerald. She was shaking, her eyes wide and wild. She reached for her weapons and stepped towards Adam "You… You bast-"
She was cut off by a sickening, wet crunch. Cinder's corpse was convulsing, flopping around on the ground. Gasps of terror mixed in the air with the disgusting, brutal sounds of bodily destruction coming from Cinder's body. Eventually something burst halfway out of her mouth in a shower of blood and viscera. It was tough to tell what it was, covered in crimson as it was, but it was alive and moving.
Terrified gasps were replaced by the sounds of retching and vomit hitting the ground.
The parasite or whatever it was screeched angrily, pulling itself free and launching into the air. For a moment, Blake could see it clearly. A black beetle, a
Grimm beetle, buzzing through the air, heading right for Emerald.
Then it was falling in two pieces, Adam's blade having sliced it in half. As its remains burst into black smoke and he sheathed his blade, his lips curled in disgust. "Even had them on the inside."
Emerald's anger had been doused by fear when the Grimm beetle had flown straight at her but it rekindled upon seeing Adam standing there so casually. With a scream of rage, she managed to pull out her weapons, this time without interruption. "You traitorous bastard!"
Adam blocked her attack with his sheathed blade, holding it up one handed to catch both of her weapons. His expression when he looked at her was blank, almost pitying. "Let me guess? You're going to avenge her death? Because you loved her?"
"Yes!" Emerald screamed as she tried to bring her kama down but Adam's arm didn't buckle.
"You should save your love for someone worthy of it," Adam growled. "If you think for even a moment that you were ever more than a pawn, a useful tool to be discarded when she was done with you, you're deluding yourself. Any time she was gentle with you, any praise or kind words she gave you, they were lies. Little more than a leash to keep you under control."
"What the hell do you know?!" Emerald pulled her weapons back for another strike-
"Like recognizes like," Adam snarled as he lashed out, kicking in her gut before she could reach, sending her flying… Right into Blake, who just barely caught her.
Adam's eyes widened, finally seeing her. "Blake…" His new, snarling voice… it
almost calmed when he spoke her name. But then he sneered. "That one… Maybe you'll have some advice for her."
"Wha- Adam!" Blake shouted, trying to get the groaning Emerald off of her.
But Adam had already turned, his new greatcoat flaring dramatically behind him. He launched himself forward, blurring with Aura enhanced speed. Rather than push through the crowd, he went over them, using heads and shoulders as stepping stones.
Somehow that broke the spell. Every Huntress and Huntsman trainee in the crowd moved to chase after him. Ruby, of course, was the fastest, zooming between the bodies in the crowd with her Semblance while everyone else struggled to get through. Blake was a bit behind, since she still needed to drop Emerald, but she soon caught up by using the same traversal method as Adam.
Her heart thudded a heavy staccato beat as she jumped from shoulder to shoulder, terror driving her forward. Of course Ruby was the first after him, of course she was. Sweet, brave, innocent Ruby, who was the first in line to fight evil and had no idea what she was up against.
When she finally caught up, Blake found Ruby and Adam caught in a struggle right on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the river that ran through Vale. Ruby had clearly swung at him with Crescent Rose but Adam had caught the shaft with one hand and was holding her in place. He leaned in close to her, tilted his head in curiosity, and Blake could see him whisper something to her leader.
Whatever it is, it clearly shocked Ruby, making her flinch backwards. A second's weakness and that was all Adam needed. It would have been the perfect opportunity for Adam to unsheathe his sword and slash her, if Blake hadn't shot him in the head at that exact moment. His Aura flared dark red. Too dark, almost black but Blake dismissed that as a trick of the eyes and continued to charge. "Adaaaaaam!"
Adam smashed a still-sheathed Wilt into Ruby's head, freeing him up just in time to block Blake's flurry of blows. That was fine by Blake, she just wanted him away from her friend.
"Blake. You shouldn't be here…" He snarled as he swung Wilt and Blush down. Although she dodged, Blake could feel the power in the blow as it passed her by.
"You really think I'll let you get away with murder?!" Blake shouted, swinging Gambol Shroud only for her wrist to get caught in Adam's iron grip.
"Stay away from me!" Adam screamed at the top of his lungs, right before he slammed his head into hers. Blake stumbled back and shook her head, just as stunned by the fact that Adam had used his horns to attack as she was from the actual impact.
They clashed blades, Adam keeping up with her just as easily as ever despite her putting every ounce of her strength into her blows, until she tried to wrap her ribbon around his arm. With a red flash, Adam's blade sliced through it to keep himself free. But then he sheathed Wilt again.
Of course, that was when his sword was the most dangerous but Adam wasn't using his Iaijutsu. He was using the sheathed sword as a normal blade, sword fighting with her and deflecting the occasional shot Ruby sent into their melee. It made no sense, especially since he was fighting entirely defensively. Was he just toying with them? Buying time for some reason?
Sorry about everything.
No. No, that couldn't be it. That couldn't be the reason he was holding back. The reason he was handicapping himself, it couldn't be that he just didn't want to hurt them. That made no sense. He'd just murdered someone!
Still, the thought refused to be banished once Blake had thought it and it was so distracting it threw her off her game. It didn't help that Adam's fighting style was different now. Besides forgoing Iaijutsu and using the sheathed Wilt like a club, he fought wildly. He snarled, he punched and kicked, he swung brutally, without any thought of defense. Adam has always prided himself on his skill with a blade, at how precise he could be. For some reason, he'd thrown it all away to act like the animal humans accused him of being.
It was all too strange for Blake. It put her off her game. She attacked at a bad angle, Adam parried strongly and left her wide open. He kicked her away as well instead of slashing her and he turned away to the cliffs-
A shadow passed overhead and dozens of Atlesian military robots slammed into the ground. Unfolding, they all repeated the same line. "Surrender Criminal." "Surrender Criminal." "Surrender Criminal."
Adam looked at the robots surrounding him, snarled again, and
moved. The red blade wasn't held in its sheath anymore. Instead, there would be a flash of red and a robot would fall to pieces. Adam moved like lightning, dodging automatic fire and dashing between bots he destroyed, even as more and more fell from the airship overhead, blocking off his escape.
Ruby helped Blake back to her feet, a worried look in her eyes. "What do we do?"
Blake shifted Gambol Shroud back into its pistol mode. "Just keep shooting. He's good but he'll tire eventually."
"Sounds good to me." Yang's voice was accompanied by the
chck-chack of Ember Celica shifting into battle mode.
"Let's open fire then." Weiss agreed. It seemed like the other half of Blake's team had finally caught up.
Team RWBY joined in on the hail of bullets Adam had to deal with, sniper fire, shotgun shells, pistol bullets and streams of fire, ice and lightning adding to the mess of gunfire he had to dodge. Adam started to take hits as more robots and more Huntsmen trainees showed up, but he only attacked the bots as he kept trying to move to the cliffs and escape.
Finally one pistol shot rang out, somehow louder than the rest of the weapons fire. Adam's Aura finally shattered and he was slammed into the ground by the impact. His sword fell from his grasp and he reached out for it, only for a white boot to stomp down on his wrist.
General James Ironwood held his revolver steady as he aimed at Adam's face, eyes as hard as steel. "Adam Taurus. You are under arrest."
For a moment, Blake was worried that Adam would continue to fight, unarmed and with a broken Aura. He looked mad enough to do it. But then, all of a sudden, he slumped against the dirt and sighed. "Still better than I thought how today would go."
AN: Been awhile, huh? @Lazurman, a friend of mine, had an idea to do an SI as Adam Taurus and while beta reading what he had, I got an idea of what would happen if I SI'd the same way and it was quite different. It was so much fun comparing to Laz that I wound up writing an entire chapter, a rarity these days.
If you want to see Laz's version, check it out here. 
